Korean War and the U.S. Navy

When we remember the Korean War we usually think only of troops on the ground, or aircraft being
involved.

We do not think about the role the U.S. Navy played and the loss of life and ships and equipment being
damaged by the North Koreans and the aid given to them by the Communists.

So to honor our Navy and the brave sailors who took part, here is a list of ships that were sunk or
damaged. It is quite interesting and rather lengthy.

Remember also that the Korean War was a part of the Cold War. (The often repeated fallacy
-No shots were fired.

Sunk in action ( 5 ships):

USS Magpie (AMS-25) blew up after striking a mine, 21 missingin action and 12 survivors, 29 September 1950.USS Pirate(AM-275) sunk after striking a mine at Wonsan, North Korea, 12October 1950
USS Pledge (AM-277) sunk after striking a mine at Wonsan,North Korea, 12 October 1950.
USS Partridge (AMS-31) sunk after striking a mine, 8 killed,6 seriously wounded, 2 February 1951.
USS Sarsi (ATF-111) sunk after striking a mine at Hungnam,North Korea, 2 killed, 27 August 1952.
Damaged in action ( 87 incidents):
USS Collett (DD-730) damaged by 7 hits with 5 wounded, 13 September 1950

USS Gurke (DD-783) minor damage from 3 hits, no casualties, 13 September 1950
USS Lyman K. Swenson (DD-729) 2 near misses caused 1 killed and 1 wounded, 13 September 1950.USS Brush (DD-745) damaged after striking a mine at Tanchon,North Korea, 9 killed and 10 wounded, 26 September 1950.
USS Mansfield (DD-728) damaged after striking a mine, 5missing and 48 wounded, 30 September 1950.
USS Charles S. Perry (DD-697) damaged by 3 hits from ashore battery at Songjin, North Korea, 23 December 1950.
USS Ozbourn (DD-846) damaged after being hit by a shorebattery at Wonsan, North Korea, 2 casualties, 23 December 1950.
USS Walke (DD-723) extensively damaged after striking amine off the east coast of Korea, 61 casualties, 12 June 1951.
USS Thompson (DMS-38) extensively damaged after being hitby a shore battery at Songjin, North Korea, 3 killed and 4 wounded,14 June 1951.
USS Hoquiam (PF-5) slightly damaged after being hit bya shore battery at Songjin, North Korea, 1 casualty, 7 May 1951.
USS New Jersey (BB-62) slightly damaged after being hitby a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 4 casualties, 20 May1951.
USS Brinkley Bass (DD-887) minor damage after being hitby a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 8 casualties, 22 May1951.
USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754) slightly damaged after beinghit by a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 4 casualties, 18June 1951.
USS Henry W. Tucker (DDR-875) superficial damage afterbeing hit by a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 28 June 1951.
USS Everett (PF-8) minor damage after being hit by a shorebattery at Wonsan, North Korea, 8 casualties, 3 July 1951 .USS Helena (CA-75) minordamage after being hit by a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea,2 casualties, 31 July 1951 .
USS Dextrous (AM-341) superficial damage after being hitby a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 1 killed and 3 wounded,11 August 1951.
USS William Seiverling (DE-441) fireroom flooded afterbeing hit by a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties,8 September 1951.
USS Heron (AMS-18) superficial damage after being hit bya shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties, 10 September1951.
USS Redstart (AM-378) minor damage after being hit by ashore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties, 10 September1951.
USS Firecrest (AMS-10) slight damage after being hit bya shore battery at Hungnam, North Korea, no casualties, 5 October1951.
USS Ernest G. Small (DDR-838) extensive damage after strikinga mine off the East coast of North Korea, 27 casualties, 7 October1951.
USS Renshaw (DDE-499) slight damage after being hit bya shore battery at Songjin, North Korea, 1 casualty, 11 October1951.
USS Ulvert M. Moore (DE-442) moderate damage after being hit by a shore battery at Hungnam, North Korea, 3 casualties, 17 October 1951.
USS Helena (CA-75) - slight damage after being hit by ashore battery at Hungnam, North Korea, 4 casualties, 23 October1951.
USS Osprey (AMS-28) considerable damage after being hitby a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 1 casualty, 29 October1951.
USS Gloucester (PF-22) light damage after being hit bya shore battery at Hongwon, North Korea, 12 casualties, 11 November1951.
USS Hyman (DD-732) minor damage after being hit by a shorebattery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties, 23 November 1951.
USS Crook County (LST-611) superficial damage after beinghit by a shore battery, no casualties, 22 December 1951.
USS Dextrous (AM-341) minor damage after being hit by ashore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 3 casualties, 11 January1952.
USS Porterfield (DD-682) minor damage after being hit bya shore battery at Sokto, North Korea, no casualties, 3 February1952.
USS Endicott (DMS-35) minor damage after 2 hits from ashore battery at Songjin, North Korea, no casualties, 4 February1952.
USS Rowan (DD-782) minor damage after 1 hit from a shorebattery at Hungnam, North Korea, no casualties, 22 February 1952.
USS Shelton (DD-790) moderate damage after 3 hits froma shore battery at Songjin, North Korea, 15 casualties, 22 February1952.
USS Henderson (DD-785) minor damage after being hit bya shore battery at Hungnam, North Korea, no casualties, 23 February1952.
USS Wisconsin (BB-64) insignificant damage after 1 hitfrom a shore battery at Songjin, North Korea, 3 casualties, 16March 1952.
USS Brinkley Bass (DD-887) moderate damage after 1 hitfrom a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 5 casualties, 24March 1952.
USS Endicott (DMS-35) insignificant damage after beinghit by a shore battery at Chongjin, North Korea, no casualties,7 April 1952.
USS Endicott (DMS-35) minor damage after 1 hit from a shorebattery at Songjin, North Korea, no casualties, 19 April 1952.
USS Osprey (AMS-28) minor damage after 1 hit from a shorebattery at Songjin, North Korea, no casualties, 24 April 1952.
USS Cabildo (LSD-16) minor damage after 1 hit from a shorebattery at Wonsan, North Korea, 2 casualties, 26 April 1952.
USS Laffey (DD-724) superficial damage after being hitby a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties, 30 April1952.
USS Maddox (DD-731) superficial damage after being hitby a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties, 30 April1952.
USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852) superficial damage afterbeing hit by a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties,2 May 1952.
USS James C. Owens (DD-776) considerable damage after 6hits from a shore battery at Songjin, North Korea, 10 casualties,7 May 1952.
USS Herbert J. Thomas (DDR-833) superficial damage after1 hit from a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties,12 May 1952.
USS Douglas H. Fox (DD-779) minor damage after 1 hit froma shore battery at Hungnam, North Korea, 2 casualties, 14 May1952.
USS Cabildo (LSD-16) superficial damage after being hitby a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 2 casualties, 25 May1952.
USS Swallow (AMS-26) slight damage after 3 hits from ashore battery at Songjin, North Korea, no casualties, 25 May 1952.
USS Murrelet (AM-372) slight damage after being hit bya shore battery at Songjin, North Korea, no casualties, 26 May1952.
USS Firecrest (AMS-10) minor damage after hits from machinegun mounts. No casualties, 30 May 1952.
USS Buck (DD-761) motor launch damaged after being hitby a shore battery at Kojo, North Korea, 2 casualties, 13 June1952.
USS Orleck (DD-886) minor damage 1 hit after receiving 50 rounds of 75 mm, 4 casualties, 13 June 1952.
USS Southerland (DDR-743) minor damage after 4 hits from shore batteries, 8 casualties, 14 July 1952
USS John R. Pierce (DD-753) moderate damage after 7 hitsfrom a shore battery at Tanchon, North Korea, 10 casualties, 6August 1952.
USS Barton (DD-722) minor damage after 1 hit from a shorebattery at Wonsan, North Korea, 2 casualties, 10 August 1952.

USS Grapple (ARS-7) minor damage after 1 hit below thewaterline from a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties,12 August 1952.
USS Thompson (DMS-38) minor damage in the vicinity of thebridge after an air burst and near misses from a shore batteryat Songjin, North Korea, 13 casualties, 20 August 1952.
USS Competent (AM-316) superficial damage and lost sweepgear after a shrapnel near miss from a shore battery at Pkg. 4-5,no casualties, 27 August 1952.
USS McDermut (DD-677) superficial damage after receiving60 rounds at 3,700 yards while at Pkg 4-5, no casualties, 27 August1952.
USS Agerholm (DD-826) superficial damage after being hitby a shore battery at the Kangsong, North Korea area bombline,1 casualty, 1 September 1952.
USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754) slight damage from near misses,after receiving 69 rounds, from a shore battery at Tanchon, NorthKorea, no casualties, 8 September 1952.
USS Barton (DD-722) major damage after striking a mine90 miles east of Wonsan, North Korea, 11 casualties, 16 September1952.
USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752) moderate damage from5 hits and 7 air bursts. Received 150 rounds of 105 mm from 3guns. First round was a direct hit at a initial range of 3,500yards. 8 casualties, 19 September 1952

USS Perkins (DDR-877) superficial damage after being straddledby 5 rounds, from a shore battery at range of 5,000 yards, atKojo, North Korea. The ship was sprayed with shrapnel from 2 nearmisses, 18 casualties, 13 October 1952.
USS Osprey (AMS-28) minor damage after being hit by a shorebattery at Kojo, North Korea, 4 casualties, 14 October 1952.
USS Lewis (DE-535) moderate damage from 2 hits after receiving50 rounds from 4-6 guns at Wonsan, North Korea, 8 casualties,21 October 1952.
USS Mansfield (DD-728) minor shrapnel damage after receiving40 rounds from 4 guns. The suspected radar controlled guns straddledthe ship at a range of 4,300-8,000 yards. No casualties, 28 October1952.
USS Uhlmann (DD-687) minor damage from 3 hits after receiving160 rounds from a shore battery, 13 casualties, 3 November 1952.
USS Kite (AMS-22) 1 small boat destroyed by a shore batteryat Wonsan, North Korea, 5 casualties, 19 November 1952.
USS Thompson (DMS-38) minor damage from 1 hit after receiving89 rounds from a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 1 casualty,20 November 1952.
USS Hanna (DE-449) moderate damage from 1 hit after receiving60 rounds from a shore battery at Songjin, North Korea, 1 casualty,24 November 1952.
USS Halsey Powell (DD-686) whaleboat damaged after beinghit by a shore battery at Hwa-do, North Korea, 2 casualties, 6February 1953.
USS Gull (AMS-16) minor damage from 1 hit after receiving60 rounds at a range of 5,400-10,000 yards while at Pkg 2, 2 casualties,16 March 1953.
USS Taussig (DD-746) slight damage from 1 hit after receiving45 rounds at a range of 6,400-10,000 yards, 1 casualty, 17 March1953.
USS Los Angeles (CA-135) slight damage from 1 hit afterreceiving 40 rounds of 105 mm at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties,27 March 1953.
USS Los Angeles (CA-135) minor damage after 1 hit froma shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 13 casualties, 2 April1953.
USS Maddox (DD-731) slight damage from 1-76 mm hit afterreceiving 209 rounds of heavy fire from a shore battery at Wonsan,North Korea, 3 casualties, 16 April 1953.
USS James E. Kyes (DD-787) slight damage from 1 hit afterreceiving 60 rounds of 155 mm at a range of 8,000-12,000 yardsfrom a shore battery near Wonsan, North Korea, 9 casualties, 19April 1953.
USS Maddox (DD-731) moderate damage from 1 hit from a shorebattery at Hodo Pando, North Korea. The ship received 186 roundsof 105 mm and several near misses from 4 guns. No casualties,2 May 1953.
USS Owen (DD-536) minor damage from 1 hit from a shorebattery at Hodo Pando, North Korea. The ship received 100 roundsof 105 mm with 1 near miss and several straddles from 4 guns.No casualties, 2 May 1953.
USS Bremerton (CA-130) superficial damage after 1 nearmiss from a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea. The ship received18 rounds of 76 mm - 135 mm, 2 casualties, 5 May 1953.
USS Samuel N. Moore (DD-747) superficial damage from 1hit from a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea. The ship received60 rounds of 90 mm, no casualties, 8 May 1953.
USS Brush (DD-745) minor damage after 1 hit from a shorebattery at Wonsan, North Korea. The ship received 20 rounds of76 mm, 9 casualties, 15 May 1953.
USS Swift (AM-122) superficial damage from 1 hit from ashore battery at Yang-do, North Korea. The ship received 30 roundsof 76 mm, 1 casualty, 29 May 1953.
USS Clarion River (LSMR-409) minor damage after 2 hitsfrom a shore battery at Walsa-ri, North Korea. The ship received30 rounds of 76 mm, 5 casualties, 4 June 1953.
USS Wiltsie (DD-716) superficial damage after 1 hit froma shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea. The ship received 35 roundsof 76 mm with several air bursts, no casualties, 11 June 1953.
USS Henderson (DD-785) superficial damage after being hitby a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, 17 June 1953.
USS Irwin (DD-794) minor damage from 1 hit after receiving90 rounds near Wonsan, North Korea, 5 casualties, 18 June 1953.
USS Rowan (DD-782) moderate damage from 5 hits after receiving45 rounds of 76-155 mm, at 7,500 yards, near Wonsan, North Korea,9 casualties, 18 June 1953.
USS Gurke (DD-783) slight damage from 2 hits and shrapnelfrom 5 near misses after receiving 150 rounds of 76-90 mm, at6,000 to 11,000 yards, near Songjin, North Korea, 3 casualties,25 June 1953.
USS Manchester (CL-83) superficial damage after near missesduring a 30 minute gun duel with a shore battery at Wonsan, NorthKorea, no casualties, 30 June 1953.
USS John W. Thomason (DD-760) minor shrapnel damage afternear misses from 150 rounds of 107 mm from a shore battery atHodo Pando, North Korea, 7 July 1953.
USS Irwin (DD-794) minor damage after 80 rounds of 76 mmair bursts close aboard from a shore battery at Pkg 2, 5 casualties,8 July 1953.
USS Saint Paul (CA-73) severe underwater damage after one76-90 mm hit from a shore battery at Wonsan, North Korea, no casualties,11 July 1953.

Sources consulted:

Cagle, Malcom W. and Frank A. Manson. The Sea War in Korea.Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute, 1957.

Silverstone, Paul H. US Warships since 1945. Annapolis,MD: Naval Institute Press, 1987.

---- Jerald Terwilliger Past Chairman American Cold War Veterans "We Remember" ---------------- "And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. We had won the Cold War, but there would be no parades." -- Robert M. Gates, 1996

South Korea ask North to allow search for remains

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's president proposed a humanitarian project with rival North Korea on Monday under which the two states would cooperate in repatriating remains of tens of thousands of soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6030KL20100104

The reclusive North allowed U.S. military teams into the country for several years to search for remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the war in a bit of rare cooperation that went on despite difficult diplomatic times.

"South Korea will not forget those who gave their lives on foreign soil," Lee Myung-bak said in a New Year's address.

Lee also repeated a call for North Korea to return to stalled nuclear disarmament talks and said he wanted a new chapter in cooperation between the states, technically at war because their conflict ended with a cease fire and not a formal peace treaty.

He said the recovery project would be an appropriate way to mark the 60th anniversary of the start of the war in which U.S.-led U.N. forces and South Korean troops fought North Korea and China.

"This can only come out of trust between the two countries. It is also a problem that will likely be solved with money," said Kim Yong-hyun, an expert on the North at Dongguk University.

There are about 39,000 soldiers from the South killed during the war whose remains are thought to be in North Korea, the Defense Ministry said. The two states have not had a formal joint repatriation project before.

Destitute North Korea, angered at Lee's moves to suspend massive handouts until Pyongyang ends its atomic ambitions, had cut ties with the South Korean leader after he took office about two year ago. Last year, it warmed to Seoul in what analysts saw as an attempt to win aid for its battered economy.

The two Koreas position more than 1 million troops near one of the world's most militarized borders, while the United States keeps about 28,000 soldiers in the South to support its military.

Conflict between the two Koreas would inflict severe damage to the two states and devastate the economies of North Asia, which make up one-sixth of the global economy.

JPAC, the U.S. unit charged with finding remains of war dead, sent 33 missions to North Korea from 1996 to 2005, leading to the identification of more than 20 sets of remains, U.S. military officials said.

The United States in 2005 ended the recovery missions by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command as tensions were rising in nuclear negotiations with North Korea. There are about 8,100 U.S. servicemen not accounted for from the Korean War, JPAC said.

North Korea Issues Heated Warning To South Korea

by Blaine Harden
North Korea announced Wednesday that it is no longer bound by the 1953 armistice that halted the Korean War, the latest and most profound diplomatic aftershock from the country's latest nuclear test two days earlier.

North Korea also warned that it would respond "with a powerful military strike" should its ships be stopped by international forces trying to stop the export of missiles and weapons of mass destruction.

The twin declarations, delivered by the country's state news agency, followed South Korea's announcement Tuesday that it would join the navies that will stop and inspect suspicious ships at sea. North Korea has repeatedly said that such participation would be a "declaration of war."
They followed other developments in North Korea that have added to the sense of jangled nerves across northeast Asia since Monday's underground nuclear test.

The North fired three more short-range missiles off its east coast on Tuesday, said Yonhap, the South Korean news agency. North Korea had fired two missiles into the same waters on Monday.
And U.S. spy satellites have detected signs that North Korea has restarted its nuclear plant, a South Korean newspaper reported Wednesday. Chosun Ilbo cited an unnamed South Korean government source as saying that steam has been detected from a reprocessing facility at North Korea's Yongbyon plant.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke Tuesday to her Russian counterpart as part of an effort to seek a united response with "consequences" for North Korea. But U.S. officials also stressed that they are still eager for North Korea to return to multilateral disarmament talks and are not ready to declare the multi-year effort to end North Korea's nuclear program a failure.

"We feel the door does still remain open, that we're ready to engage," said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly. He described the Obama administration's effort now as trying to "bring international pressure to bear to get them to reverse their course."

In Tokyo, a former defense minister and ruling party lawmaker said Japan should consider developing the ability to conduct preemptive strikes against North Korea, even though Japan's constitution prohibits it from taking offensive military action.

South Korea had long resisted U.S. pressure to join the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which was created in 2003 by President George W. Bush and includes more than 90 countries that have agreed to stop and inspect suspicious cargo on sea and land.

Seoul was reluctant to rile North Korea, but North Korea's second nuclear test nudged Seoul Korea to change its policy.

North Korea has long been suspected of shipping or flying missiles to customers in the Middle East and South Asia.

As a member of the security initiative, South Korea is likely to receive intelligence information from the United States, Japan and other countries about ships leaving North Korean ports that may be carrying such goods, a government official said in Tokyo.

Joining the international interdiction effort "is a natural obligation for a mature country," said South Korea's foreign minister, Yu Myung-hwan. Even before Monday's nuclear test, peaceful coexistence on the Korean Peninsula had been sorely tested this spring. The North launched a long-range missile, detained a South Korean citizen, kicked out U.N. nuclear inspectors, restarted a plutonium factory and halted the six-nation negotiations on its nuclear program.
"Inter-Korean relations have hit rock bottom," said Yun Duk-min, professor of international politics at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, a government think tank in Seoul. "So it is the right thing to join PSI, even if North Korea reacts with resistance."

"The current U.S. leadership . . . has drawn the puppets [South Korea] into the PSI," North Korea's military complained Wednesday in a statement.

North Korea is thought to possess more than 200 mid-range Nodong missiles that can strike nearly any part of Japan. The Japanese government, which has invested billions of dollars in a U.S.-made antimissile defense system, is concerned that the North is making progress in designing nuclear warheads that could fit atop its missiles.

"We must look at active missile defense such as attacking an enemy's territory and bases," the former defense minister, Gen Nakatani, said at a meeting of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

In China, where condemnation of the North's nuclear test was surprisingly swift and unambiguous, the state media on Tuesday printed strong reprimands of North Korea from other countries. The shower of criticism was far different from the reaction to North Korea's first nuclear test in 2006, when the Chinese media blamed the United States for provoking Pyongyang by cutting off aid.

"This may well be a reflection of Beijing's frustrations for not being able to assert control and influence over North Korea," said Wenran Jiang, research chair of the China Institute at the University of Alberta.

Staff writers Glenn Kessler in Washington, Colum Lynch at the United Nations and Ariana Eunjung Cha in Beijing and special correspondents Stella Kim in Seoul and Akiko Yamamoto in Tokyo contributed to this report.